Wild Texas on Location (Arkansas)

Little Missouri Falls

Copyright © Justin W. Moore See more photos at OutdoorPhoto.com

Justin and I first visited Arkansas in 1995, falling in love with The Natural State immediately. Boasting over 17 million acres of forest land, 500,000 acres of lakes and 9,740 miles of streams, Arkansas is a paradise for outdoors enthusiasts such as ourselves. The fact that Arkansas' total population of 2.4 million is just double that of the City of San Antonio, our home town, is not lost on us, either!

Wednesday, May 13 (4 AM)

Justin and I began the ten hour drive from San Antonio, Texas, to Mena, Arkansas. At 2 PM, two hours after crossing over the Red River and into Arkansas, we arrived at Queen Wilhelmina State Park where we would spend the next two nights. After a brief nap, Justin and I hiked a portion of the "Lover's Leap Trail" to the overlook. Having brought our allergies with us, we retreated early to the air conditioned comfort of our room for dinner. In addition to several miles of hiking trails, the lodge offers visitors access to a developed campground, children's zoo, miniature railroad, and miniature golf course, all within walking distance.

Thursday, May 14

Located atop the state's second-highest peak, Queen Wilhelmina Lodge is often shrouded in dense clouds. At 5 AM, we awoke to find a thick cloud bank had parked itself atop the mountain. Wildlife abounds during these mystical cloudy spells, as we discovered while slowly creeping out of the park in our vehicle. Eastern bluebird, eastern cottontail, and fox all made appearances before disappearing into the mist.

7:45 AM: Arrived at Little Missouri Falls, a scenic string of waterfalls located in the Ouachita National Forest. The road to the trailhead is unpaved but fairly well maintained, making it easily passable in a passenger car such as our Toyota Corolla. Once on the trail, Justin hiked ahead to photograph the falls; soon thereafter, I overshot him (without my knowledge) and hiked about a mile down the trail. Having hiked the trail with Justin in 1995, I mistakenly remembered the falls as being 1/2 mile from the parking area. Wrong! It took me awhile to realize my error, as I was happily narrating our recent bird sightings into a pocket tape recorder as I walked. No harm done, although I did get more of a workout than I had planned. Sound familiar, anyone?

We returned to Queen Wilhelmina State Park by 3:00 PM for lunch, relaxation, and a strategy session. Studying the mountain of brochures we had amassed, and Tim Ernst's Arkansas Hiking Trails, we decided to visit Lake Catherine State Park located 168 miles away. As always seems to be the case, we brought a heat spell to Arkansas during this trip. Hiking at Lake Catherine State Park reminded us of a 5 mile hike at Lake Ouachita State Park in 1995--in a word, HUMID! Nonetheless, we enjoyed the abundance of squirrels cavorting in the forest duff and the echoing calls of crows as we hiked. Our destination at Lake Catherine, another waterfall, was somewhat of a disappointment as it was not flowing much. We made a brief tour of the park, noting the attractive rental cabins, before heading back to Queen Wilhelmina Lodge; we arrived shortly after 7 PM.

Friday, May 15

We left Queen Wilhelmina Lodge for the last time around 10 AM, heading for Mount Nebo State Park where we would spend the remaining days of our trip. Although cabin check-in at Mount Nebo is 4 PM, we arrived slightly early and were allowed to occupy our cabin-- #71 near "Sunset Point". We were extremely impressed with our A-frame cabin, and the extent to which Arkansas' State Parks go to make visitors' stays enjoyable. Virtually every amenity one could ask for had been provided, including a weather radio.

In our continuing search for Arkansas waterfalls, we hiked Nebo's 1/4 mile Gum Springs Trail. The waterfall was not roaring, but it did allow Justin to make some interesting photographic compositions. Back at our cabin, the vistas were obscured by the thick haze caused by the Mexico forest fires. Having heard of the health alerts back home in San Antonio, we were somewhat surprised the smoke had drifted far enough north and east to affect Arkansas. As a result of the limited visibility, we focused on identifying birds near our cabin. Within the span of approximately 1 hour, we observed crow, tufted titmouse, Carolina chickadee, wood thrush, turkey vulture, blue jay, Northern cardinal, American robin, eastern wood-peewee, black-throated green warbler, and blue grosbeak. Additional birds sighted near the cabin during our stay included eastern bluebird and great-crested flycatcher.

Saturday, May 16

7:45 AM: Justin and I made an abortive attempt to locate Bona Dea Wildlife Management Area, a local birding hotspot. Undaunted, we continued on to Lake Dardanelle to hike the Bridge Rock Loop. Justin photographed the natural bridge before we left, slightly irritated by the deafening roar of boats speeding by us in the lake below. Just before we left, we observed two great blue herons soaring like hawks unusually high in the sky, their long legs trailing behind them. One of the herons even did an apparent aerial somersault before gliding out of our sight, our vision obscured by a large stand of pine trees.

After lunch and a long nap back at the cabin, we headed to the Arkansas River Valley Visitor Center. The grounds surrounding the center are home to numerous Canada geese, some of which are banded. Justin and I both photographed and observed the geese before leaving the park. Scissortail flycatcher, eastern bluebird, American robin, and Northern cardinal were present.

More information on Arkansas State Parks is available from the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

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